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To answer your question

I have auditioned several 12au7 and 12at7 preamps:

12au7s sound slightly muffled, they do not reproduce the natural decay of a brushed cymbal or soundstage details. Most famous 12AU7 preamps: Jadis and first version of the CAT SL-I.

12at7s have more detail and transparency, but can be irritating, with a slightly metallic sound. Most famous 12AT7 preamps: VTL and Manley.

If you are going to build from scratch, 6SL7 for phono and 6SN7 for line stage sound much more neutral and musical than those nine pin tubes, which were developed ONLY to save space and reduce heater consumption, not as an improvement on the previous generation.
Eric Barbour published a definitive article on Glass Audio comparing several "audio" tubes. He found out that the most linear post-1940 tube is the 6SN7.
Good luck
Carlos



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